Ultimate Movie Site : Val Kilmer

Val Kilmer

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AKA: Val Kilmer

Ethnicity: Caucasian

Birthdate: 1959-12-31

Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA

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Biography

Once described as Hollywood's most difficult leading man, actor Val Kilmer accumulated his share of proponents over the years to offset the howls of his surprisingly vocal detractors, few of whom – despite their issues with him – would argue that his best work rivaled other of Hollywood’s top leading men. Kilmer first made himself known as the chief rival of Tom Cruise in the blockbuster “Top Gun (1986) before delivering an uncanny performance of poet-singer Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s “The Doors” (1991) and a mesmerizing turn as Doc Holliday in “Tombstone” (1993). Around that time, the public began hearing rumblings of Kilmer’s difficult on-set persona. While playing the Caped Crusader in “Batman Forever” (1995), Kilmer entered into the low-point of his vampish behavior, which...

Credits

Title	Distributor	Role	Release
Dead Girl	Grey Matter Entertainment	Actor	01-01-1997
Moscow Zero	Valentia Pictures	Actor	---
Played	Attica Films	Actor	---
Top Secret!	Kingsmere Properties	Actor	06-22-1984
Top Secret!	Kingsmere Properties	Song Performer	06-22-1984

Box Office

Release	Title	Distributor	Role	Domestic Box Office
01-01-1997	Dead Girl	Grey Matter Entertainment	Actor	---
---	Moscow Zero	Valentia Pictures	Actor	---
---	Played	Attica Films	Actor	---
06-22-1984	Top Secret!	Kingsmere Properties	Actor	---
06-22-1984	Top Secret!	Kingsmere Properties	Song Pe...	---

Education

Institution	Location	Major	Notes
Chatsworth High School	Chatsworth, CA		Classmates included Mare Winningham and Kevin Spacey
Hollywood Professional School	Hollywood, CA
The Juilliard School	New York, NY	drama	At the time was the youngest student accepted to the drama division at age 17

Affiliations

Christian Scientist

Supports Habitat for Humanity, an organization that raises funds to construct housing for low-income families.

Milestones

Begin	Through
1981	---	Co-authored and starred in the play "How It All Began," which was performed at the Public Theatre at the New York Shakespeare Festival
1983	---	Made Broadway debut in "The Slab Boys," alongside Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon
1983	---	Cast in the television short, "One Too Many," an educational drama on drinking and driving; also starred a young Michelle Pfeiffer
1984	---	Made film debut as the rock idol Nick Rivers in the spy spoof, "Top Secret!"; sang all the songs in the film
1985	---	Played the lead in the satirical comedy film, "Real Genius"

Professions

Profession	Type
actor	primary
singer	occasional
playwright	occasional
poet	occasional

Relationships

Relationship	Name
Companion	Michelle Pfeiffer	Wrote poetry for her, remembering her in his book of poetry, My Eden After Burns
Companion	Drew Barrymore	Reportedly dated c. 1995; no longer together
Companion	Ellen Barkin	Dated c. 1984; no longer together
Companion	Daryl Hannah	Dated in 2001; no longer together
Companion	Mare Winningham	Had a three-year relationship during high school; no longer together

Notes

"Kim [Basinger] was a delight to work with. But Kilmer - oh, my God, the guy is nuts! We paid him a million dollars and he was nothing but trouble. During the contract negotiations he was nice as pie. He was looking forward to the movie, couldn't wait to work with director Russell Mulcahy - all the usual platitudes. But when he turned up on the set and Russell said something innocuous like 'Val, if we could just run through this scene,' Kilmer rounded on him and snarled, 'Don't you ever talk to me like that again.' There was absolutely no logic to it all - it was 'Looney Tunes' stuff. It was the first day of filming and we all looked at each other and knew we had a big problem on our hands. From that moment, it was a case of struggling through." - An unnamed executive on the making of "The Real McCoy" quoted in the Daily News, June 23, 1996

"BUZZ magazine reported that after shooting Kilmer's last scene, director John Frankenheimer shouted, 'Cut! Now get that bastard off my set.'" - From People magazine, Oct. 21, 1996

"Val is the most psychologically troubled human being I've ever worked with. The tools I used to work with him - tools of communication, of patience and understanding - were the tools I use on my five-year-old godson. Val is not just high-strung. I think he needs help. I say this to you only because I have said it to him." - director Joel Schumacher quoted in Premiere magazine, April 1997

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